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Old Man Turtle is skinny, lost and scared
By Liz Palika
June 4, 2010
I took in an old male turtle a few weeks ago. He’s a box turtle who has lived a long time; many of those years appeared to be hard ones. His shell is beat up and chipped and he is very thin.
He was picked up by a woman who saw him on a street near her house. She put up flyers but no one ever responded. I’m not surprised. He is uncomfortable with people and although he’s an escaped or released pet — his species is not native to Southern California — he’s been on his own for a long time.
The local shelter gave her my name and number and I picked him up in April. Old Man Turtle was probably just out of hibernation and looked like he was too thin when he began hibernating because he was much too light weight in April. He felt like there was shell and bone and that’s it.
Getting him to eat was tough, though, because he would run — and yes, box turtles can run, and amazingly fast — whenever I got anywhere near him. So I set up some hiding spots in the yard where I quarantine new arrivals, and I would put some smelly tasty foods (foods apt to attract him) in those spots. He got some canned cat food, strawberries, and banana as well as snails from the yard (no snail bait here!), grubs, and earthworms.
Once Old Man Turtle began eating and he put on a little weight, I had him checked out by my veterinarian and amazingly enough, he’s healthy other than being underweight. The vet agreed this is an ancient box turtle. We also agreed his shell had been chewed on by either dogs or coyotes. The canines hadn’t done too much damage; the shell isn’t cracked, but chips are missing.
His face and front legs are scarred and this was probably done by other male box turtles. During spring breeding season, males will battle for territory and females and their fights can be very damaging. Old Man Turtle is a survivor — his ancient age shows that — but as he got older he probably began losing those annual battles and so now has the scars to show it.
I’m not going to put Old Man Turtle up for adoption. He’s too frightened and in a new home, people would want to watch or handle him. That would be too much stress.
So Old Man Turtle will remain here. The dogs here don’t chew on turtles; they respect them. And food is never scarce. I’ll make sure my dominant male box turtle stays in his enclosure, away from the old man, so the old guy won’t get beat up any more.
And I’ll fatten up the old guy. Hopefully he’ll figure out, like my box turtles have, that I’m the bringer of food. They charge my feet when they see me. The day when I walk out back and Old Man Turtle charges my feet will be a happy day!
Photos of Old Man Turtle by Liz Palika.
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Aww, I’m glad Old Man Turtle has found a quiet, peaceful and SAFE home where he can live out his days. Thanks for sharing this, Liz, and for rescuing an old man.
Comment by David S. Greene — June 4, 2010 @ 6:16 am
Amazing Liz, how sweet the gal, who saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now I’m found. Was scared, but now, I eat!
Comment by Gina Spadafori — June 4, 2010 @ 6:26 am
I’m so glad he found his way to you ! looking forward to hearing about his progress & hoping he charges your feet soon.
Comment by Leslie K — June 4, 2010 @ 6:39 am
I am so glad this old man will ive the rest of his days stress free and well fed! thanks!
Comment by cyndi — June 4, 2010 @ 7:44 am
I’m curious, how did the good samaritan know that this guy was a non-native turtle?
That’s not something most people would pick up!
I’m thinking of asking the local rehabber if she would consider our farm as a release area for (native) box turtles.
We have 26 acres of woods, scrub, and fields, a constant water source, places to hibernate, lots of contiguous farmland and woods, are pretty far from busy roads, and the dogs don’t bother the one (?) we already have here. (Cole always tells me when she’s there, but won’t approach her — his motto is Turtle is weird, turtle is wrong, tell Mom.)
Thoughts?
Comment by H. Houlahan — June 4, 2010 @ 8:02 am
Your not kidding when you say they are fast. They are native here and I have caught a few wild ones and removed them from danger to safer areas. They can really scoot.
Comment by Dan — June 4, 2010 @ 8:32 am
Heather: The woman who picked him up did so because he was in the street. The local shelter told her he was non-native and an escaped pet.
Definitely talk to the local box turtle rescuer. She may be thrilled to find a place to release healthy wild box turtles.
Comment by Liz Palika — June 4, 2010 @ 8:59 am
You have a great big heart, adopting this turtle.
I think the American Indians see turtles as good luck. You certainly deserve it for what you have done for this God’s creature.
Comment by Evelyn — June 4, 2010 @ 11:57 am
I want to be like Liz when I grow up! It makes my heart happy to know that there is someone out there to give an old turtle a proper retirement.
Comment by The Other Lori — June 4, 2010 @ 1:38 pm
My understanding is that box turtles are extremely territorial. Move them away from “home” and they’ll do their best to trudge back again. So if #5, H. Houlahan, wants to develop a native box turtle sanctuary (a terrific idea, especially if it gets a breeding population established)for those rescued from roadways it will probably need to be fenced. And these turtles dig.
There’s a native / wild breeding population here at BelleWood Gardens. Every few years I find a much-smaller-than-palm-size youngster, or a hand-size teenager. Lovely.
Judy
Comment by Judy — June 4, 2010 @ 6:39 pm
I think it is hard to tell if a box turtle is underweight. This one must have been really bad. I took mine to the vet recently and he said they are in great shape- I was thankful to hear that.
Comment by Terry Albert — June 5, 2010 @ 7:23 am
Some people have tried to establish box turtle sanctuaries—a good person to as for advice about this is Dr. Belzer—http://www.mckeever.org/turtle.html
Other good box turtle resources are the free ebook “The Box Turtle Connection” http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg.....e_2006.pdf
and, of course, CK Dodd’s book “North American Box Turtles: a Natural History”.
Comment by Valerie — June 5, 2010 @ 8:26 am
Terry: The best way to tell is by weight. Obviously you can actually weight them and keep track of their weight. But if you don’t have any previous records, a healthy box turtle should feel like a shell full of water; he should feel heavier for his size than you would expect. If he feels like a shell and bones that’s really bad!
They also do put weight on their neck and legs - you can see it.
As you can see in the photos of the Old Man Turtle, he’s skinny. And these photos were just taken and I’ve had him over siz weeks now.
Comment by Liz Palika — June 5, 2010 @ 4:11 pm
The older I get the better I understand why people collect an assortment of pets. It just happens, and can be so much fun.
Thank you for taking care of this stately turtle. True humanity.
Comment by Erich Riesenberg — June 5, 2010 @ 7:55 pm
Thank you! for taking in the turtle, and giving us his story. Super to hear he’s got someone to watch out for him, won’t have to deal with the stress of being adopted out, and I will look forward to hearing of the day he charges your feet.
Comment by perri — June 7, 2010 @ 1:34 am
I’m glad to know people rescue turtles. I never thought about it
Comment by kathy — November 26, 2010 @ 7:19 am